May I
by And The Moment's Gone
Summary: May I hold you as you fall to sleep? When the world is closing in and you can't breathe.
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: May I  
**Word** **Count**: 2,789  
**Pairings**: Michelle Benjamin / David Shepherd  
**Rating**: PG-13 for the language.  
**Warnings**/**Spoilers**: Takes place sometime after Insurrection. No definite time line though.  
**Summary**: May I hold you as you fall to sleep? When the world is closing in and you can't breathe.

**Official Disclaimer**: All Kings characters and plots belong to Michael Green and NBC. I do not hold stock either the man or the company. Michelle Benjamin, David Shepherd, and any other character featured are NOT mine. The song used for the title is _May I _by Trading Yesterday and is not mine either.

* * *

_And there you stand opened heart--opened doors  
full of life with the world that's wanting more.  
But I can see when the lights start to fade  
the day is done and your smile has gone away._

_~May I, Trading Yesterday_

She hated to be alone.

Ever since the riot and subsequent hostage situation at Port Prosperity, she hated the thought of being trapped in a room by herself.

It was absurd, she knew, any fears that she might have admitted to could easily be swept to the side. The men that had tried to hut her were all dead, save for Ethan Shepherd and he was back at his mother's farm, under the diligent watch of the men that her father undoubtedly put into place. She had been ordered to stay in the confines of the palace at any rate. She was more than safe, not that it calmed her nerves any.

She should be reading, she thought to herself, brushing up on one petition or another for when she was allowed back in court. She had a briefing to prepare for her next dinner meeting with Paul Lash and there were still more numbers to consider and facts to wind through. It was well past midnight in the palace and if she wasn't going to be able to get any sleep she might as well be productive. Her father refused her a schedule for the next few days, so she could make up any lost sleep later if she felt the need. But for now, she leaned against the headboard of her bed, she should be doing something.

It was a shame that there wasn't much to relax her any more.

She had tried a bath, long and serene, just like her mother used to force her to take when she got headaches as a child. She even had one of the house servants to get her a copy of the latest romance novel so she could read as she soaked, with a story of something pleasant and mindless. Unfortunately for her it didn't help. Music from her sound dock in the bedroom did nothing for her either.

Her restlessness irritated her; more then she should probably have let it. She, after all, had to have something at her disposal that would be able to placate her.

She turned slowly on the bed, dropping her feet off of the edge and placing them on the cold floor. The need to leave the room rising. She pulled her hair up into a hurried French twist and secured it with a clip. The rest of the palace should be well on their way to being asleep by now, with the exception of her brother who kept his own penthouse in the city. Very rarely did he stay in his apartments in the Palace, choosing instead to take his pleasures without their parents underfoot. Briefly she wondered if her outlook on life would change if she were to branch out as Jack had. Looking down at her dark yoga pants and the crocheted long sleeve sleep shirt she had donned after her bath, she forced breath through her lungs and frowned. She could change her clothing, make herself more presentable, but pulling her sheerling lined suede coat off of its resting place on the chair of the antique desk in her sitting room, she realized that the knee length coat would cover most of her.

She didn't have to tell her security team that she was leaving. Her Captain, Steven Sommerholde, seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to her habits. He had been guarding her since she was old enough to venture out of the palace alone, and for once she as glad of both his discretion and his seemingly precognition when it came to her needs. He was already standing on the other side of her door when she opened it, shoes in hand. "I'm going out." She told him simply, if not redundantly.

"I'll send for a car." He told her quickly, pulling his cell phone from its holster at his hip. He barked quiet orders into the receiver and then hung up without preamble, falling into step a few paces behind her as she quietly toed her way to the side staircase that led down past the kitchens. Her caution wasn't warranted though, her brother not being in his rooms and her parents' two floors above her. But he smiled as she crept, much like she had when she was a child. "Where are we going this morning?" He asked.

She stayed quiet, waiting until she was down in the kitchen before sliding into ballerina slippers. They slid of the side door that led to a small driveway, one that was rarely used for more then deliveries and she slid into the back seat of the car as soon as the door was opened for her. She gave the order for the driver to circle the city even as she leaned back against the seat.

Her heart slowly starting to resume a quiet rhythm.

* * *

Normally his nights were uneventful. There may be some dinner at the palace that required his attention or a press conference that the king insisted he hold in the press room, but mostly his evenings were his own, to call his mother and brothers or to just relax in his small apartment. Tonight had been a late unscheduled dinner meeting with Mrs. Katrina Ghent and Jack Benjamin so the former could have a few photos taken with the hero of Gilboa to be hung alongside her latest press release about the ministry that she had been given, and the latter could save face after his recent foray into the free press. It was a dinner that he would have been more then happy to skip if it hadn't have been suggested by Thomasina in front of the king. David was tired of his life being commandeered.

He ran a towel over his head and nodded to the beat of the music from his radio. He had grown accustomed to leaving it on when it was home, being one of seven boys in his mother's home growing up, quiet was something he did not revel in.

It was late, he knew that without looking at the clock by his bedside, and he counted himself lucky that the only thing on his agenda the following day was an event at one of the primary schools in the city where he would have to stand by while the queen read to a group of first graders. He still didn't understand why he had been asked to go along with the company. Slowly he shook his head and threw the towel to the foot of his bed. He reached for the bottom drawer of his dresser and grabbed an old pair of track pants that he had inherited from one brother or another at some part of his life.

The knock startled him.

Throwing on the pants, he waited a beat to make sure that he hadn't been hearing things. There was a second knock, slow and tentative as the first, and he made his way across the room to the door. He didn't bother asking who was there, and the hallway was far to dark for him to accurately see through the peephole anyone that was on the other side of the oak, so he opened the door slowly, putting himself as an obstruction in the small opening that he left.

When the light from his room swept into the hall, he had to brace himself against taking a step backwards.

She was dressed simply, in what appeared to be a pair of yoga pants and a long jacket, with her hair pulled up off of her neck, and he dropped his arms dumbly to his side. Was it customary to bow?

"Michelle?" His voice was quiet, almost too much so, and he allowed himself the small step back so he could open the door a little wider. "What are you doing here?"

She smiled weakly, turning to nod to the captain of her guard that she was all right. "I couldn't sleep." She let herself into his small apartment and ran a hand over her face. "I was riding around the city and saw that your light was on." She turned in the room. "I'm sorry for the intrusion."

The door was shut behind her and David mirrored her smile. "It's not an intrusion." He tried to tell her, holding a hand out. "May I take your coat?"

She shrugged it off reluctantly, pulling the sleeves to her crocheted top down over her hands and turning to examine the room. "How's Ethan?" She asked him, groping for a topic other then what she was doing there in the middle of the night, as she took a step away from where he was hanging her coat on the doorknob to the small closet. Small talk may have been something she was well versed in, but tonight it escaped her.

"Not returning my calls." David moved into the small kitchen area, plucking two over sized mugs from the dish strainer and setting them next to the stove. He pulled the small tea kettle off of its hook above the sink and filled it with water, before setting it down on the stove and starting the burner. He smirked gently as he realized that he hadn't even asked her if she would like any tea. "My mother is keeping him busy on the farm, or so Daniel tells me." He laughed softly to himself. "He's the only one'll answer when I call home anymore."

"Your brother's trial is set for the end of next month." She moved closer to the kitchen and tried not to stare at his bare chest. "Your family's just rallying their support where they think it's needed." She placed her hand on his shoulder and allowed her eyes to lock with his. "They'll see that you were only doing what's best for him." Her hand slid down his arm and she frowned. "I'm planning on speaking on Ethan's behalf at his trial."

David nodded, watching as she wrapped her arms around herself. "So Thomasina keeps telling me." He touched the side of the pot hesitantly, wishing that the water would start to boil. It would give him something else to concentrate on other then the fact that the king's youngest child was standing in the middle of his apartment, dressed as if heading to bed. "She says that the fact that he saved your life just might save his." He didn't look up at her, keeping his eyes instead on the pot.

She was across the room before she could keep herself still, standing at his side, both on her hands resting on his bare skin. "It'll be okay." She told him slowly, pulling him into an awkward sideways hug. The pot abandoned, David turned in her arms and brought his hands up to rest at the small of her back. He buried his nose in the small crevice between her neck and shoulder, and her hands rubbed small circles in to the skin of his back.

When he pulled away, he ran his hands up her back to her shoulders and then to cup the back of her neck. "What are you doing here?" He asked quickly, keeping one hand lightly on the side of her face as he dropped his other hand and took a step back.

She nuzzled his hand slightly, not even aware that she was doing it until he almost pulled away. "I needed to get out." She told him honestly. "I felt like I was suffocating."

The kettle whistled and he turned and flipped off the burner. "Last I heard your father restricted you to the mansion."

"He's going to be pissed when he realizes I left." She admitted. "But I couldn't be alone."

"Jack's penthouse is closer to the palace." He poured water into each mug, dropping a tea bag into it once it was filled. "He – "

"I didn't want to stay with Jack." She huffed. "He and his boys are probably too busy anyway." She knew that if she were to have shown up and needed him, her brother would have cleared out his place for her, but she couldn't bear to have been seen as so needy in front of her brother's friends, or the companions that they would have undoubtedly chosen for the night. "I…" She accepted the mug from him and took a slow sip. "I wanted to see you." She said after a moment, surprising herself with the fact that it was true.

He laughed; a sweet and almost bitter sound all at once. "Me?" He asked as he took his own sip of tea. "Why would a princess want to see me?" He asked the room almost sourly.

"I feel safe with you." She admitted, setting her mug on the side of the counter. "You saved me in Prosperity."

"My brother saved you." He corrected.

She shook her head. "You put yourself between me and the gun." She reminded him. "If Ethan hadn't shot him you would have taken a bullet for me."

David smiled. "I did what any man would have done."

This time she smiled with him. "Are all soldiers as modest as you?" She asked, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Time for princesses to get back to their beds." He said instead of answering her. He set his mug aside and turned as if to collect her coat.

"I don't want to go back to the castle." She told him defiantly, struggling to hide another yawn. "Once I get back to my room I'll just want to leave it again."

He paused for a moment, before turning to the other side of the room and grabbing the abandoned towel off of the bed, flinging it into a waiting clothes hamper. "So stay with me." He decided, before turning back to her. "You can take the bed, I promise the sheets are clean, and I'll sleep on the couch."

"I'm not kicking you out of your bed." She announced, stealing another sip of her tea. "I'll take the couch."

"That's got to be against some state law."

"I'm not kicking you out of your bed." She repeated.

David smiled mischievously. "So we'll share the bed." He turned down the side away from the wall and nodded. When her eyes rose he winked at her. "You refuse to let me take the couch, and I'll sleep on the floor before I let you." His explanation seemed logical enough. "We're both adults," he yawned, "and both fairly tired."

"So you'll just share your bed with the princess?" She asked incredulously. "Why does this feel like some scandal in the making?"

"So call your guard in here." He offered, moving to the door. "They can take the couch and ensure your virtue."

His hand touched the doorknob just seconds before hers did, covering his. "My guard is perfectly fine in the hall." She told him quickly, knowing that the second he allowed Steven into the room neither one of them were sleeping in the bed. She would be carted off to the castle and he would probably be on his way to the jails for daring to compromise the princess's person. "How do I know that the second I climb into bed with you this won't wind up in the free press?"

"Your father owns the free press." David reminded her, leading her over to his bed. "And last time I checked I hated reporters nearly as much as you did."

"You work with reporters." She pointed out, turning her back to the bed.

He stepped a little too close to her and when she retreated her calves hit the mattress. "I promise I won't tell a soul." He said sincerely, holding his hand up for her in the old scout salute. "The only two people to know you were ever in my bed are here in this room." His eyes locked with hers and she shuttered absently.

Pulling her top lip between her teeth, she turned, climbing into the bed and across to the side closest to the wall. "I don't do this kind of thing every day." She told the room quietly, almost unsure if she was talking to herself.

David slid into the bed behind her, flipping off the light. "Your secrets safe with me." He told the back of her head, curling onto his side and laying his hand down next to hers, their fingers almost touching.

When she closed her eyes, sleep came immediately.

* * *

If anyone reads this, please let me know. I've got a second part in mind I'm just not sure if I should continue.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title**: May I  
**Word** **Count**: 3,572  
**Pairings**: Michelle Benjamin / David Shepherd  
**Rating**: PG-13 for the language.  
**Warnings**/**Spoilers**: Takes place sometime after Insurrection. No definite time line though.  
**Summary**: May I hold you as you fall to sleep? When the world is closing in and you can't breathe.

**Official Disclaimer**: All Kings characters and plots belong to Michael Green and NBC. I do not hold stock either the man or the company. Michelle Benjamin, David Shepherd, and any other character featured are NOT mine. The song used for the title is _May I _by Trading Yesterday and is not mine either.

* * *

_And there you stand opened heart--opened doors  
full of life with the world that's wanting more.  
But I can see when the lights start to fade  
the day is done and your smile has gone away._

_~May I, Trading Yesterday_

She wasn't gone when he awoke.

His eyes blinked open slowly and he found himself on his side, facing the wall. The princess in his arms was turned to face him, her small arms tucked into herself with his arms cradling her body. One of her legs was pinned between his, and the top leg had slid up and over his hip. With her head tucked into his neck, below his chin, he could literally feel every breath that she took. His left arm ran down her shoulder, over the rise of her shirt and onto the soft skin of the small of her back. It was a far cry from the way they had fallen asleep, two feet away from each other, the night before.

It was a feeling that he enjoyed, no matter how it had gotten there. There almost wasn't a part of her body that wasn't touching his. While he couldn't say that he'd never slept with anyone before, he could honestly say that this was the first time that he had woken up with them wrapped so thoroughly around him.

His nose brushed her hairline and he could smell the cinamin in her shampoo.

Her eyes opened slowly, then closed.

"Mmmm." Her tongue slipped out from between her lips to wet them, accidently tasting his neck as it did. She pulled her lower lip between her teeth and blew breath out of her nose. She snuggled further into his embrace. "Hmmm."

"Morning." He pulled away from her slowly to rest his chin against her brow and his arm ran over her hip and down the thigh that was pulled over hers. Her eyes opened again then, her head pulling away from his.

She blinked a few times against the light that was streaming through the window and then her eyes shut again, trying to regain her equilibrium. "Morning." She mumbled, her lips skimming his chin. Her leg shifted slightly on his, but she didn't pull it away. "What time is it?"

Dropping his left arm behind his back, he tilted slowly until his clock became visible. "Almost seven thirty." He told her carefully, turning back to his companion and running his arm up hers again. "What time to you need to be back?"

She shifted lightly, running her hand through her hair. Her clip must have fallen out of her hair during the night, and she would have to have David find it sometime in the near future, if he didn't want to roll over it in the night. "Dad's probably up making breakfast by now." She winced when her hand hit a tangle in her hair. "I should probably get going soon."

David ran his hand over her leg again, picking it up and releasing himself. He had to chuckle, for he had absolutely no idea how to handle the situation. If she was anyone else he might have asked her to stay. Then again if she weren't anyone else chances were likely that she wouldn't have spent the night in his bed. He ran a hand over his face and then turned back to her.

Her eyes were closed again, one arm behind her head and the other was resting on the sliver of stomach that peeked out from between her yoga pants and the crocheted top that she wore. "I should get going." She said slowly, blowing breath out of her lips and shifting her legs slightly. Her eyes fluttered and she rolled onto her side, facing David. "I should." She said again.

"Your father's going to be pissed if he finds out you left." He reminded her, pushing off the covers and scratching his chest as he rose and headed to the kitchen. He pulled a glass out of the cupboard and then grabbed the milk from the fridge. Filling the glass halfway, he replaced the milk and then grabbed the bottle of vitamins from the counter. He watched as she rolled into the warm empty spot that he left and pulled the covers up and over her head. "Come on."

In her head she knew he was right. It was going to be hard enough to sneak back into the palace in the light of day, and that was if her father hadn't already figured out that she had left. She buried her nose into his pillow and took a deep breath. "And if I don't want to leave?" She asked him through the blanket.

"I can't make you do anything, Princess." She heard a rustling and when she pulled the cover off of her face just in time to watch him pull an undershirt over his chest and then grab a dark blue shirt out of the closet that her jacket was still on the door knob of. "You are free to stay as long as you'd like," he gulped the last of the milk. "But I have to be at the palace in a little under and hour to be a part of your mother's school campaign."

She was sitting up now, combing her hands through her hair and wishing that she knew where her clip had gone. Hopefully there was still one in the car. She pulled the front of her sleep shirt up, forcing to make it more decent before she pushed herself out of the bed. "I have no plan to take over your apartment while you're out." She got to her feet, sliding them into her slippers on her way to the door. She slid her jacket off of the doorknob, folding it over her arm and turned to him. "I'll let you ready in peace."

Her back was to him now, heading to the door where she knew her guard would be diligently waiting for her to emerge. "Michelle?" He asked tentatively, one arm slung through the sleeve of his uniform shirt. She turned around, her hand still on the knob. "I'm not sure the proper protocol after last night," he slid his other arm into the shirt and his hands absently fiddled with the buttons. "Would it be too out of place for me to thank you?"

"Thank me?" The corner of her mouth twitched in a smile and shook her head. "Propriety says that I'm the one that should be thanking you." She moved closer and placed on hand on top of his. "And by that I am meaning to say _thank you._" She stepped up onto her tip toes and placed her cheek against his. "Thank you." She said again.

There was a knock at the door, and a quick word in the hallway, and Michelle was once again on her way to the door. It opened smoothly, and the second she appeared, Steven stood at attention, holding his hand out for her jacket. Michelle handed the jacket over to him and then turned back to David. "I'll see you at the palace." She nodded, running a hand through her hair.

David smiled as his eyes met hers, and for a brief moment, he allowed himself to bow. "I'll see you at the palace." He agreed. He watched as she backed into the hall, as her guard helped her put her suede jacket over her shoulders and turn to move down the hall, with one of her servicemen shutting the door behind her.

She was ushered down the three flights of stairs to the car she had contracted the night before, and her serviceman opened the door for her, making sure she was inside before he shut it firmly and moved to the other side to slide in beside her. Steven instructed the driver to take them back to the palace, to the rear entrance and then sat back, watching in the mirror on the visor as Michelle ran her hands through her hair to tame the curls and over her eyes to force herself awake enough to face the day. "I'd like my assistant found once I get home and get changed." She told the car, knowing that sometime between the time when they get to the palace and when she was finished with breakfast her assistant will appear at her side ready for whatever need she may have.

The car pulled up to the door in back of the palace, the door opening in front of her and a guard opened the door to the mansion. She ran up the back staircase, leaving her servicemen behind. She made it to her room in record time and then stripped off her clothes, forgetting her usual neatness in favor of leaving them laying on the couch in her sitting room, pulling on a pair of jeans and a white cable-knit sweater over top of a maroon tank top. She pulled a few hair pins off her night stand and pinned her hair up and away from her face. Checking the clock again, she pulled the door to her bedroom open and made her way to the kitchen.

"You're up late." Silas was dishing up the last of the omelets onto a plate for her, when she entered. "I was starting to worry."

Ignoring the cursory glance from her brother, she set herself down at her usual seat at the table and allowed her father to serve her, pushing the fruit salad closer to her plate. "I've been having trouble sleeping." She told her family easily, her eyes locking on her brothers. She was daring him to contradict what she was saying, and as much fun as it would have been to watch their father falter in the conversation, Jack wasn't really in the mood to piss his sister off.

"I'm sure there's a doctor at the university that specializes on post traumatic disorders." Jack said as helpfully as he could as he took a bite of his own omelet. "I'm sure we can get Thomasina to –"

"I don't need a psychiatrist." Michelle scoffed, stabbing her omelet a little too hard with her fork. "I'm not suffering from PTSD. I'm just having a little trouble sleeping."

Her father joined the table next to her and smiled as he added salt to his eggs. "You look no worse for wear, my dear." He complimented smoothly, running his hand over his daughters shoulder. "Show me a few more good mornings like this and I'll allow you to have your schedule back." He turned away from her then, giving her hand a few good taps before turning back to his son. "How was your dinner with Ghent?"

But Jack didn't have time to answer, Thomasina letting herself into the kitchen with her PDA in hand. "Your first audience of the day is here, sir." She moved up to stand by the counter and peered at the family.

"I'm having breakfast with my family." Silas speared a piece of fruit with his fork and bit into it gently. "Whoever it is can wait." He took another bite of fruit and sighed when Thomisina just stared him down. She had rescheduled this particular meeting at least three times in the past and there was no way that she was going to let him blow them off again. He growled and stood, grabbing his plate. "I'll give up the venue, but not the food." He dropped his fork onto his plate and patted his daughter's arm on his way to the door. "No work today," he reminded his youngest on his way out the door.

With their father out of the room, both Benjamin siblings seemed to relax a little. Jack took a sip of his coffee and turned to his sister. She may have told them that she had woken up late, but she looked like she had gotten more then enough sleep. This was the first time since the incident in Prosperity that she actually looked rested. "I stopped by to check on you when I got in this morning." He told her conversationally, holding his coffee mug with both hands. He eyed her over the top of his mug. "Someone wasn't in her room this morning."

She took a bite of her omelet carefully, weighing her options. She could tell her brother about her trip to David's, or she could come up with something else. Mentally she weighed the odds. Her family's attitude on the Captain had changed somewhat since he had risked his life for hers in the warehouse, but she wasn't about to admit that she had fled the protection of the palace, and her father's orders, to go spend the night with the man. It didn't matter if all they did was sleep. "I was in the library." She almost whispered, praying that her brother hadn't searched the house for her when she wasn't in her room.

"I didn't tell Dad." Jack watched his sister breathe a sigh of relief and her shoulders shrunk. He couldn't begin to pretend that he and his sister had always gotten along, or that he didn't envy her the relationship that she had with their father, but he was worried about her. More so then even he would like to admit. "If you need to get away…" He started, pushing his omelet around his plate a little to keep from trying to look his sister in the eye. "I can always ask Dad if you can stay with me for a few days."

"I'm fine." She told him sincerely, running a hand over her face. She could have sworn that she had felt well rested and capable when she woke up that morning. An hour into her day and she was exhausted again. "And while I have no doubt that you'd have room for me, I don't want to live in the Party Capital of Shiloh."

Jack's lips pulled back into a mocking smile as his sister tilted her head in his direction. "I can take a few days reprieve from my usual scene." He told her sincerely. If his sister really needed him, then he would be there for her.

Her smile turned soft and she took a sip of her juice. "I'm fine here, Jack, but thank you." Her head tilted again and she reached across the table for the paper. "I think I just need to take a few days off like Dad said."

He pulled the paper from her hands and folded it back on the opposite side of his place setting. "Reading the paper isn't going to make you want to take time off." He joked, watching her pout. He popped the last bit of omelet into his mouth and washed it down with coffee. "If you need anything, let me know." He rose then, and abandoning his plate for one of the house servants to clean up, he made sure to grab the paper on his way out of the room.

Michelle took another sip of her juice and then set the glass down, resting her head in her hands and her elbows on the table.

* * *

The school trip had gone as well as was expected, the children overjoyed to have Queen Rose come and read a story to them. David had stood off to the side, as instructed, between Katrina Ghent and the Minister of Transportation. He smiled and waved at all of the appropriate times and he had to admit that even the queen would be hard pressed to find fault in anything he had done during the trip.

Sitting in the motorcade on the way back to the palace was another matter entirely. With nothing else to focus on, he couldn't help but to remember the way that Michelle felt against him that morning, the way that she had wrapped herself around his form in her sleep. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful in his bed and he silently wished that he would be able to see her so relaxed again sometime soon.

He was halfway up the stairs on his way to the press room when he noticed her, book in hand as she leaned against the banister at the top of the staircase. She was watching him, tapping her thumb against the cover of the book she was holding, and he could almost hear the gears in her head turning. He reached the top step, turning as if to head to the west wing when he heard her.

"David!" She turned to him, smiling at the ministers that were returning to their duties and seeming to pull him over to the side of the staircase. "Can I have a word with you?"

He smiled as he turned, careful not to bump into anyone, and with his back to the people closest to them, his smile widened. "As you wish." He replied smoothly, falling into step beside her.

Neither spoke. They walked the length of the second floor east corridor, and when she turned the corner to the residence wing, he couldn't help but to glance behind them to make sure that no one was paying attention. "I wanted to thank you again." She slowed her pace again, taking one long step and then the other.

He shook his head, his hand already up to protest. "It's not necessary." He told her for the second time that day. "It was my pleasure."

"It was your inconvenience." Michelle ran a hand through her hair and turned, facing him. She had run this conversation through her head a million and one times since she left his apartment that morning, and somehow it wasn't quiet going as expected. He wasn't supposed to be so gracious about her invading his privacy. "I dropped onto your doorstep unexpected." Her bottom lip was pulled between her teeth and she sighed. "You didn't have to let me stay. You didn't have to give me tea or let me sleep in your bed."

"I couldn't make you leave." He told her simply, placing his hand on her arm. "You needed a place to go, and I was happy to be that."

Michelle took up her pace again, maybe this time a little slower. "And if I need it again?" She asked him almost bluntly, shaking her head and leading him around another corner. They were almost to the press room, by way of the second floor residence and she knew that any signs of their conversation would have to be gone by the time they were seen by other people again. "What happens if tomorrow, or next week or tonight, I find myself at your doorstep again?"

He watched her struggle to find a voice and didn't take his hand off of her arm. She was obviously making it more complicated that she really needed to. He wasn't asking for repayment for last night, and he certainly didn't need her feeling guilty about it. She needed help and he was able to provide. It was that simple. He smiled at her briefly before following her lead. "Then I need to buy more tea."

* * *

He tossed and turned, not finding a comfortable enough position to be able to fall asleep in. It was a little past eleven, and his day had been completely uneventful after his press briefing. He had grabbed dinner out, with a reporter from one of the Shiloh teen magazines and then went home early, where he caught up on the news that didn't require him to report and a sitcom or two. He had called home before nine, his mother actually exchanging pleasantries with him for a few minutes before passing the phone off to Daniel and claiming that she was going to bed early. She was due in the city again in another week to meet with one of the lawyers that the family was trying to hire to represent Ethan. David promised to take her out to dinner and to do whatever else she needed during her trip.

He almost didn't hear the knock on his door, too caught up in remembering his conversation with his mother to be paying attention. He heard the second, vaulting himself into a sitting position and navigaiting his way around the dark room.

When he saw her on the other side of the door he wasn't surprised. She shucked her sheerling coat of and hung it on the doorknob to the closet herself. "I couldn't sleep." She told him weakly, trying to read his face in the dim moonlight.

David smiled. "Neither could I." He answered honestly, shutting the door firmly behind her and throwing the lock. He knew that it would deter no one, her guards being more then capable of forcing their way into the room if the need arose; it just seemed like the natural thing to do. He took her hand then, walking her slowly around the piano to the bed. "I'm…" he paused, eyes closing as he groped for the words that he wanted to say.

She pulled the covers back, sliding into his bed and double checking the alarm before making room for him. She laid on her side, facing the wall, this time closer then she had started out the night before. "Thank you." She whispered to the dark as he settled in behind her.

* * *

If you're still enjoying this then please review. I'm having a lot of fun writing this, but I'm going to stop posting if no one is reading it. Thank you.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title**: May I  
**Word** **Count**: 2,658

**Pairings**: Michelle Benjamin / David Shepherd  
**Rating**: PG-13 for the language.  
**Warnings**/**Spoilers**: Takes place sometime after Insurrection. In my universe Judgment Day has not taken place yet.  
**Summary**: May I hold you as you fall to sleep? When the world is closing in and you can't breathe.

**Author's Note**: I don't use this very often, but I just wanted to reiterate that Judgment Day hasn't taken place yet. I also wanted to point out that I don't think that David has a washer and dryer in his tiny apartment, but there's got to be a laundry room in the building someplace. I've also made a few structural changes to David's apartment for sake of the story. Hopefully no one minds too much.

**Official Disclaimer**: All Kings characters and plots belong to Michael Green and NBC. I do not hold stock either the man or the company. Michelle Benjamin, David Shepherd, and any other character featured are NOT mine. The song used for the title is _May I _by Trading Yesterday and is not mine either.

* * *

_Let me raise you up_

_Let me be your love_

_~ May I, Trading Yesterday_

"Someone wasn't in her room again this morning."

She entered the kitchen through the back hallway, moving directly to her seat. She noticed that their father wasn't in his usual spot behind the stove, but it didn't unnerve her. There were times that her father was unable to make breakfast. She could live without her father's cooking for one morning. Her brother was more then comfortable, his feet propped up in the seat in front of him, paper open. She poured herself a glass of juice from the center of the table before looking up at him, her features schooled into a cool smile.

"Excuse me?" She asked carefully, running a hand through her hair and reaching for the business section that was in front of the empty place setting. It had been ten days since she had begun spending her nights at David's, and she had actually begun to get a routine down. They woke together most mornings at seven thirty, and she was out the door before eight, David staying awake just long enough to see her off before catching another hour or two of sleep. His job didn't require him to come in before ten in the morning unless called. Michelle glanced at her watch; she was running rather early this morning.

Jack eyed his sister over the top of the sports pages. In the last few days she had begun to look better then she had before the hostage situation. He quirked his eyebrow as she didn't even flinch under his scrutiny. "Dad left for the countryside early this morning. Mom's making him take a day off." He reminded her. "He tried to tell you good-bye but you weren't in your room."

She wanted to panic. It was in the forefront of her mind to start freaking out over the fact that her brother had caught her. Instead she took a sip of juice and shrugged. "I woke up with a headache." She told him smoothly, forcing herself to not shake her head. Her brother had told her once it was her biggest tell when she was lying. "Since Dad's letting me leave the palace now I went for a ride hoping the fresh air would help."

Her top lip quivered and Jack nodded knowingly. He and his sister had had a conversation once about tells. He smiled to himself when he realized that he never told her all of hers. "Funny." He said smoothly, reaching for his coffee. "That's the same line I fed Dad when he asked me where you were." He dropped the paper and eyed his sister. It was the lie they had made up for him years ago when he would spend all night out on the town before he was given his own penthouse. It was odd that she was borrowing it. "Now where were you really?"

"I needed some air." She said defiantly, smiling at her brother over her glass. She twisted to the chef and held up a hand. "Can I get some scrambled eggs please?" She asked quickly, not taking her eyes off of her brother. Jack was too close for her liking, and she didn't mean physically. She should have known that he would remember the lie. But her face still held the smooth smile, and as long as she stuck to her story, Jack couldn't prove otherwise. "And some toast?"

The chef nodded and turned to grab the eggs.

"Michelle?" She turned again to her brother, who was now watching her critically with his index and middle finger rubbing absently at his lips. "Where were you?" He asked again, this time without the laughter in his eyes. It wasn't the first time that he had noticed his sister out, although this was the first time that he had ever had to cover for her. He had hoped that if there was something wrong that she would go to him. Jack could be accused of many things, but not loving his sister was not among them.

She shook her head at him, setting her glass down onto the table. Why was he making it so difficult for her this morning? The last thing she needed was the Inquisition. "I just needed some air." She told him again, hoping that he would stop pushing the issue.

Jack watched his sister for a moment, shook his head, and went back to the paper.

* * *

David moved about his apartment with careless ease, pouring his mother another cup of coffee and setting out the salads that they had bought for lunch while they were out that day. The meeting with the lawyer had gone well, his mother confident that the man they met with could possibly keep Ethan from the death penalty if not out of jail entirely. They had stopped after the meeting and his mother opted for take out instead of sitting in the crowd that was more then happy to welcome David. She had come to terms with the fact that her youngest had done all that he could for Ethan, but she drew the line at him parading around like a hero.

"You always were the neatest." Jessie Shepherd pulled a t-shirt out of the clean laundry basket and folded it carefully. He hadn't asked her to help with his laundry, but when she saw the basket she felt compelled to help. "How often do you do your laundry, every three days?"

"Once a week, Ma." He walked around the kitchen and grabbed two plastic forks out of the drawer. "And I never heard you complaining when I used to do my own laundry."

Jessie smiled. "I always wondered who taught you." She laughed and then frowned, pulling a pair of jeans out of the basket. She tilted her head as she held them up and then looked at her son. "David?" She questioned lightly, trying to decide if she was seeing what she thought she was seeing. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

There was no way that the jeans she was holding could possibly be his. David pulled his bottom lip between his teeth as he tried to remember when they had been left and how long they were in his laundry. Michelle had come over once or twice without her pajamas already on and with a spare set of clothes, so there was really no telling. "Not really." He said after a second, noting the way his mother was still holding them up for him to see.

"You've got a woman's jeans in your laundry and you're trying to shrug me off?" Jessie folded the pants and tossed them onto the seat of the piano. "David are you seeing someone?"

"No." He started emphatically, and at his mother's look he shrugged. "Maybe." He ran a hand through his hair and motioned her away from the laundry to the small island in the kitchen so they could eat. "She's just a friend."

"A friend that leaves her pants at your apartment?" Jessie asked skeptically. She loved her son, truly she did, she just didn't understand him anymore. Shiloh was turning him into someone that she didn't recognize. "David – "

"It's not what you think, Ma." He said emphatically stabbing his salad with his fork. "She…" How in the world did he explain his relationship with Michelle to his mother without explaining his relationship with Michelle to his mother? "She's just a friend that needed a place to stay." He took a bite and then set his fork down. "I slept on the couch." He lied slowly.

Jessie eyed her son. There was something that he wasn't telling her, she knew him well enough to know that, but he was trying too hard to get her to drop the subject and that was telling all on its own. "I don't want to see you get hurt." She told him simply, taking a sip of her coffee. "And I don't want to see you parading women around like you're Jack Benjamin."

David's eyes softened as he took another bite. "It's nothing like that." He told her carefully. "And you don't have to worry. You taught me better then that."

"Darn right I did." Jessie took a bite of her salad and smiled at her son.

* * *

It was later that afternoon when David kissed his mother goodbye and sent her on her way back to the farm. He straightened up his apartment, what little there was, and finished his laundry, setting the top that Michelle had left at his apartment with her jeans for her to take with her the next morning. He hadn't decided yet whether or not he was going to tell her that his mother had discovered the clothing. Somehow it seemed to make what they were doing more real now that someone knew, sort of.

He had settled in with a book when he had gotten the call, the joint chiefs were coming to Table and he was expected to attend on the off chance the press asked about it the next day. He was to be able to answer honestly anything that he was asked.

He was on his way to the press room, to give a short briefing before going to Table when he saw her, coming down the hallway with a tan jacket covering a pair of black pants and a blouse that tied on the side. He couldn't help the smile that came over his lips. "We've got to stop meeting like this." He laughed lightly as Michelle fell into step beside him on his way to the press room. "People may start to talk."

"They're already talking." She glanced over her shoulder at one of the reporters following a dozen steps behind them and laughed. "I just wanted to let you know that I may be late." She lowered her voice and stepped closer to him. "I have a dinner tonight with Lash about the health care proposal and talking politics tends to go on."

"I was ordered to Table to sit in on a meeting with the joint chiefs tonight anyway." He shook his head. The only reason he was glad to be ordered to dinner was so he could be near her. It was a shame that she was going to be occupied elsewhere. He laughed despite himself. "It promises to be a boring evening that I'll be able to talk about with the press tomorrow morning. Maybe I'll get lucky and there will be a game on tonight when I get home."

They turned the corner and she stopped, allowing the reporter to pass them. She ran a hand through her hair and smiled awkwardly. There was too much that she needed to say, and now was neither the time or the place to say it. "Look David, I have to be back to the palace earlier from now on."

He watched her eyes fall and nodded. "Is everything all right?" He asked quickly, looking around to make sure no one was watching them.

Michelle shook her head. "I think Jack's starting to suspect something." She didn't look up, not for a long moment, and when she did, he could tell that her brother finding out about them was probably the worse thing that she could think of to happen. "We can talk about this later, I don't want to make you late – "

"I'm sure the press would understand the princess needed me." He told her smoothly, adjusting the lapel of her jacket. "If Jack's starting to catch on are you sure you want to come over tonight at all?"

She didn't know what compelled her to tilt her head to the side, running her hands over the medals on his jacket as she allowed a brief smiled to cross her lips. "I can't sleep anywhere else." She whispered quickly. She took a step back, forcing herself to add some distance between them. "I'll see you tonight." She promised.

He nodded carefully. "Remind me to tell you about your jeans." He joked with a scrunch of his nose, laughing at her confusion as he turned his back on her and practically ran into the press room. Glancing around the hall again, Michelle turned around and headed to the car.

* * *

The door opened slowly, she didn't even bother to knock anymore, and David took a sip of his tea as she set her purse on the end of the dresser and her bag on the floor. He poured her a mug and smile as she took it, sipping gently before setting it onto the small island in front of her. "How was dinner?"

"I wanted to stab myself with the salad fork before the main course." She pulled her jacket off of her shoulders and laid it over top of the piano, running her fingers along the wood before turning back to David. "Whatever made me think that it would be a good idea to partner up with Lash now has me wondering why I can't have him killed."

"He can help you get the reform passed." David offered as helpfully as he could.

Michelle took another quick sip of her tea before moving into the bathroom, where she pulled her wrap shirt open and shouted through the partially open door. "He's insufferable." She pulled the t-shirt that she kept borrowing from David to sleep in over her head and pulled her hair up into a ponytail with the elastic that she had wrapped around her wrist. "He thinks that just because I agreed to a dinner that we're somehow dating, and tomorrow when pictures of us show up in the paper he's probably going to say 'no comment' with the ridiculous sly smile that's going to make everyone think there's something going on." She slid into her sweat pants and pulled the door open the rest of the way.

"Maybe Paul Lash is exactly what you need." David offered quickly, watching Michelle blanch.

"You're kidding?" She exclaimed harshly.

He held his hand up and watched as she took a deep breath to allow him to speak. "With everyone's attention on you and Paul, maybe your family will focus on something other than your morning schedule."

Michelle took another sip of her tea and checked her watch. It was late. If she was planning on getting up at six she should probably be getting to bed soon. "You mean Jack will focus on something else." She set her mug in the sink and made her way over to the bed.

David took that as his cue to follow her, forgetting his mug on the island. "It's not that bad of an idea." He tried, watching her crawl between his sheets.

"It's better then I could think of." She decided, rolling onto her side to face him. She watched him flip off the light and then snuggled into his side. "It might be an idea worth pursuing." She yawned and then tilted her head up to his chin. "I never did ask you how your dinner was…"

He tilted his face down to meet hers, hoping to be able to drop a chaste kiss to her forehead. "It was a state dinner with the joint chief's." He told her slowly, misjudging his position near her face and kissing the dimple in her chin, pulling her bottom lip between his own. He pulled back slightly, wishing that he could see her eyes in the absence of light.

The room got quiet, maybe too much so, and Michelle's tongue came out between her lips. She had to admit that she had been kissed before, if not so many times; although the accidental bump of lips was more then she thought it should be. "David." She whispered so close to him that her lips brushed his. "We shouldn't."

His lips claimed hers again, and he slid his hand against her ribcage as he rolled her over.

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You know the drill. Reviews get you more.


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